Ink dispensing apparatus



May 29, 1934. K. H. POND INK DISPENSING APPARATUS My umu mn 4:3 "I" FOUNTAIN PEN REF

; ATTURNEY.

May 29, 1934. K. H. POND 1,960,549

INK DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25. 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTO May 29, 1934. K. H. POND 1,960,549

INK DI SPENSING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 25, 1931 35heets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEK Patented May 29, 1934 INK DISPENSING APPARATUS Kenneth H. Pond, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Frederick W. Anderson, Columbus, Ohio Application November 23,1931, Serial No. 576,747

Claims. (01. 120 57) This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing ink in relatively small quantities such, for example, as those required to fill a fountain pen.

5 It is the chief object of the invention to devise a coin controlled apparatus of this character which can be used in a great variety of locations, particularly college campuses, school buildings, business districts, and the like, and which will provide for the convenient refilling of fountain pens. It is also an object of the invention to combine an apparatus of this character with an animated advertising device.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in vertical section, of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view at right angles to Fig. 2 showing most of the operating mechanism in rear elevation;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the greater part of the operating mechanism, the motor, however, being omitted; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the ink bottle or vessel shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Briefly stated, the apparatus shown comprises a dispensing vessel or bottle for containing a limited quantity of ink, a supply reservoir connected with said bottle, means for controlling the flow of ink. from said reservoir to the bottle, a cover or stopper for the bottle which normally is locked in. its closed position, coin controlled power driven means for unlocking said stopper and opening the bottle to to make the supply of ink available to a customer, and an advertising mechanism which is operated. by said power driven means. The detailed description of the various units of the apparatus will be taken up in approximately the order in which they have just been mentioned. v

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the dispensing bottle or vessel is shown at 2, the bottle being secured rigidly to' the base of the apparatus and in. front of the casing 3 which encloses the operating mechanism. Two tubes 4 and 5, respectively, lead from this bottle at different levels to the ink reservoir 6 which, in this case, consists of a relatively large bottle supported in an inverted position. The lower tube 4 is connected by a rubber tube 7 to a glass tube leading through the cork of the bottle, while the upper tube 5 is similarly connected through a rubber tube 8 to a vent tube 9 leading into the upper part of the bottle. 7 Consequently, unless co the flow of ink is interfered with in a manner later to be described, the bottle 2 will be kept constantly filled to a point slightly above the upper tube 5, the flow being shut off automatically when the ink level in the vessel 2 rises sufliciently to prevent air from flowing into the vent tube.

For the purpose of preventing evaporation of the ink from the bottle 2 and also preventing access to the ink, a cover or stopper 10 is provided to close the top of the bottle. Normally this cover is locked in its bottle closing position by a mechanism comprising an arm 12 on which the stopper is mounted, a shaft 13 to which the arm is rigidly secured, a lever 14, Figs. 15' 3 and 4, connected to the shaft 13 by an arm 15, and a toothed latch lever 16 which is pivoted on the machine frame at 17, Fig. 3, and is normally held in looking position by a spring 18.

Power driven mechanism is provided to release 50 the latch lever 16 and to swing the stopper into its open position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. This mechanism comprises an electric motor 20, Fig. 3, which is belt connected to a pulley 21 secure-d fast on a horizontal shaft 22. A worm 23 on this shaft drives a worm wheel 24 fast on a cross shaft 25 having a disk 26 secured to its left-hand end, Fig. 4. Projecting eccentrically from the end of this disk is a pin 2'7 arranged to operate a pawl 28 for driving a ratchet wheel 30 secured on the end of a cam shaft 31. A weight 32 on the rearward end, Figs. 3 and 4, of the pawl holds its forward end in operative engagement with the ratchet wheel 30, while a holding pawl 33 prevents backward rotation of the ratchet wheel. Fast on the cam shaft 31 is a cam 34 arranged to engage a grooved roll 35 which is rotatably mounted on a link 36 pivoted at its upper end on a stud 37 and having its lower end similarly connected at 38 to the lever 14 previously referred to. A coiled spring 40 connected to the link 36 tends to swing this link'toward the left, Figs. 3 and 4, and thus to hold the roll 36 constantly in engagement with the cam 34, and also operates through the connections between the link 36 and the stopper 10 to move the stopper into its closed position when such movement is permitted by the cam. The cam also is arranged to engage a second grooved roll 41 which is rotatably' mounted on the lever 14.

The operating mechanism is stopped in approx- 110 imately the position shown in Fig. 3, and when the motor is first started up and the ratchet wheel 30 consequently begins to rotate step by step in a counter-clockwise direction, the cam 34 first engages the roll 41 and swings the toothed latch 16 downwardly far enough to disengage it from the bent end 14, Fig. 4, of the lever 14, thus unlocking the connections through which the latch has held the stopper 10 in its closed position. Shortly after this operation occurs a high portion of the cam 34 engages the roll 35 and forces this roll toward the right, Figs. 3 and 4, thus operating through the link 36, lever 14, arm 15, rock shaft 13 and arm 12 to swing the stopper into its open position, as shown in Fig. 1. It is held in this position for approximately a predetermined length of time, but as soon as the high part of the cam swings out of engagement with the roll 35, the spring swings the link 36 backwardly, or toward the left, thus swinging the stopper 10 again into its closed position. Prior to this time the cam has moved out of engagement with the roll 14, thus allowing the spring 18 to swing the notched end of the latch 16 upwardly so that when the link 36 is swung toward the left it will slide the bent end 14' of the lever 14 over the teeth of the latch until the stopper reaches its closed position where it will be locked again by the engagement of the latch lever 16 with the part 14'. Y

The operating mechanism above described is governed by a coin controlled mechanism. A slot 43 is formed through the front of the casing 3 to receive a coin such, for example, as a penny, the coin so inserted being guided through a chute 44, Fig.4, into a bucket 45 mounted on the end of a lever 46 which is secured fast on a rock shaft 47, this shaft being supported in stationary frame pieces 48 and 50. Also mounted on the lever 46 is a mercury switch 51 which is secured to the lever by a clip 52, this switch being connected in series with the motor 20 and also, in this particular case, with an incandescent lamp 53 which is utilized as a current limiting resistance. Normally the lever 46 is held in approximately a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 4, in which position the switch 51 is open and no current flows through the motor or the lamp. For this purpose the weights of the metal parts mounted on the rock shaft 47 are carefully disposed with reference to the axis of this shaft, and a very light carefully tensioned spring 54, which is connected to the curved rearward end of the rock shaft by means of a link 55, cooperates with the weight of the mercury in the tube 51 normally to maintain the lever 46 and the parts associated therewith in approximately the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 4. When a penny is dropped into the bucket 45 its weight is sufiicient to swing the bucket into approximately the upper of the two dotted line positions shown in Fig. 3 where the penny P is held partly in the bucket by its engagement with the upright wall 56, the tension of the spring 54 being so adjusted that it stops the descent of the bucket in approximately this position. This movement of the bucket, however, is sufiicient to tip the switch 51 into its circuit closing position, thus causing the motor 20 to start up. The bucket and the switch are held in these same positions while the operating mechanism goes through practically the entire cycle of movements above described. opening the bottle 2 and subsequently closing it again. Just before the completion of this cycle, an arm 57, Fig. 4, which is secured rigidly but adjustably to the cam shaft 31, strikes the lower bent end 58 of the link 55,

thus pushing this link upwardly and tipping the lever 46 and bucket 45 into the lower position in which they are shown in Fig. 3, thus causing the penny P to slide out of the open end of the bucket. Immediately after this action has occurred and the arm 57 is swung out of engagement with the part 58, the spring 54 returns the lever 46 again to its upper horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 4, thus causing the switch 51 to open the motor circuit and stop the operating mechanism. This action occurs when the cam 34 and the parts associate-d therewith are in approximately the positions shown in Fig. 3.

The penny drops out of the bucket 45 into another inclined chute 60, Fig. 2, which guides it into a drawer 61 mounted to slide between the base 9 and the false bottom 62. This drawer may either be locked with a padlock of its own, or access may be obtained to it simply by removing the sheet metal cover 3 which normally is locked in its operative position by means of a bar 63, Figs. 1 and 2, which slides under the false bottom 62, projects through slots in opposite sides of the casing and is secured by a padlock 64.

Preferably the ink holding capacity of the bottle 2 is made only slightly greater than that required for filling a fountain pen of one of the larger sizes, the walls of the bottle being made abnormally thick for this purpose, as shown in Fig. 5. In view of the fact that the connections between this dispensing bottle and the supply reservoir or bottle 6 are of such a nature as to maintain the bottle 2 constantly filled, it is desirable to provide an additional control over the flow of ink from the reservoir to the dispensing bottle so that only approximately one loading for a mountain pen will be supplied during a single cycle of operations of the machine.

For this purpose connections are provided for shutting off the flow of ink into the bottle 2 while this bottle is open. These connections are illustrated in Fig. 3 and comprise a small bell crank lever 65 fulcrumed at 66. and having a pin and slot connection with the arm 15 previously referred to. This lever carries a small spring pressed plunger 67 which is adapted to bear on the rubber tube '7 leading to the lower inlet 4 of the bottle 2. While the operating mechanism is at rest the plunger 6'7 occupies approximately the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, and during this time the supply of ink in the dispensing bottle 2 will be automatically replenished. Simultaneously with the opening of the stopper 10, however, the plunger 67 will be brought down upon the rubber tube 7 and will squeeze it sufliciently to shut off the flow of ink through it, this condition being maintained so long as the stopper 10 remains open.

It is contemplated that the entire apparatus may be used for advertising purposes, in addition to the revenue obtained by selling ink. In order to attract attention to it, it is preferable to provide a glass window 68, Fig. 1, in the front of the casing 3 so that the operation of the mechanism can, to some extent at least, be observed.

Added interest also may be created by connecting an animated advertising device of some sort with the operating mechanism above described. Such a device may take a great variety of forms. The particular arrangement shown comprises-a series of cards '70 mounted on a reel 71 which is rotatably supported in two standards 72-72, Fig. 4. The upper shaft 73 of the reel is connected through a sprocket and chain drive '74 and by means of bevel gears '75 to the cam shaft 31 previously mentioned. Consequently, as this shaft is rotated step by step the cards 70 will be brought successively into view behind the window 68. Preferably a figure 76 of a man is located behind the window and beside the reel, this figure including a pivoted arm 77 with a hand and finger extended pointing to the cards. The arm 77 is secured on a rock shaft 78, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, one end of which is supported in the figure, while the other is mounted in a stationary frame piece 80. The rock shaft may be made of wire and is provided with a looped portion 81 to bear against a cam 82 which is secured fast on the cam shaft 31, a weight 83 being provided to hold the bottom of the loop in contact with the cam. As the cam revolves the arm 7'7 of the figure is made to swing up and down through quite a wide arc, the downward movement of the arm occurring just before a new card is swung into position and the upward movement immediately thereafter, so that the figure appears to be directing attention to each new card as it drops into view. An electric lamp 85 may be provided to illuminate the cards, this lamp being controlled by the switch 51.

The invention thus provides an apparatus for automatically dispensing ink in relatively small and measured quantities which makes available to the public a convenient and economical means for filling fountain pens, but which, in addition, forms a valuable advertising device.

While I have herein shown and described a convenient embodiment of my invention, it will be evident that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In an ink dispensing apparatus, the combination of a dispensing vessel arranged to hold a quantity of fluid ink in position for the filling of a fountain pen therefrom, a reservoir for holding a supply of fluid ink, connections for conducting the ink from said reservoir to said vessel by gravity, and coin controlled means for controlling both the fiow of ink from said reservoir to said vessel and also the access of the ink in said vessel to a customer.

2. In an ink dispensing apparatus, the combination of a dispensing vessel arranged to hold a quantity of fluid ink in position for the filling of a fountain pen therefrom, a reservoir for holding a supply of fluid ink, connections for producing a gravity flow of ink from said reservoir to said vessel and controlling barometrically the level of the ink in said vessel, means for normally preventing the access by a customer to the ink in said vessel, and coin controlled mechanism for operating said means to permit such access.

3. In an ink dispensing apparatus, the combination of a dispensing vessel arranged to hold a quantity of fluid ink in position for the filling of a fountain pen therefrom, a reservoir for holding asupply of fluid ink, connections for conducting the ink from said reservoir to said vessel by gravity, a closure for normally preventing access by a customer to the ink in said vessel, means for locking said closure, and coin controlled mechanism for operating said locking means and said closure to open the latter.

4. An ink dispensing apparatus according to preceding claim 3, in combination with means arranged to be operated by said coin controlled mechanism for preventing the flow of ink from said reservoir to said vessel while said closure is open, but permitting said flow when the closure is in its locked position.

5. In an ink dispensing apparatus, the combination of a dispensing vessel arranged to hold a quantity of fluid ink in position for the filling of a fountain pen therefrom, a reservoir for holding a supply of fiuid ink, connections for conducting the ink from said reservoir to said vessel by gravity, a closure for normally preventing access by a customer to the ink in said vessel, and coin controlled means for opening said closure, holding it open for a predetermined length of time, and closing it again in each cycle of operations of the apparatus.

KENNETH H. POND. 

